Transition from Flat Iron/Curling Iron to Natural 3B

Hi everyone! My name is Heather, I'm 24 and I FINALLY decided to embrace my curls and say goodbye to my hair dryer, flat iron, and curling iron! I honestly don't even remember what my natural curls looked like because I have had heat applied to my hair as far back as I can remember. My mom is white and my dad is half white and half black. I never knew anyone on my dad's side of the family and my mom has slick straight hair. When I was in grade school my hair was past my knees but my mom would blow dry it out and brush it so it was just a massive puff ball. When I could figure it out, I learned how to straighten my hair so that it looked naturally straight. Just 12 days ago (remember I'm now 24) I decided to throw out the hair dryer, straightening iron, and curling iron and go natural! I've posted a pic of what my hair looks like now. The ends are pretty straight from the years of heat damage and my hair is dry.

I am looking for any advice you can give me to restore my healthy curls! The biggest problems I'm seeing right now are that I can't get my hair to work when it's dry. I tried the pineapple method but whenever I wake up I just have deformed "curls" and frizz and it's not able to be tamed. I have to wet and condition it and use a mousse (aussie leave in conditioner mousse) to make it work. However, whatever style I choose for the day when it's wet is how it has to stay for the rest of the day otherwise I have a dent from a clip or ponytail and the curls are ruined in some spots. The front of my hair is also a lot more damaged than the back so I have several sections that have deformed "curls" and even straight ends.

So far (past 12 days) I've been taking a multi-vitamin, biotin, zinc, vitamin C, and vitamin B daily. I condition my hair every day and add mousse. I bought sulfate free conditioner (tea tree) and I have Aussie leave in conditioner spray. I've also added tons of fruits and veggies and recommended foods from naturally curly to my diet.

Comments

Not familiar with the Aussie mouse, but if it has silicones use it up & don't repurchase. If your products have silicones in it (anything ending in: cone, xane, or conol) you will need a clarifying shampoo to remove. I would also be careful when using a 'sulfate free' cleanser. I find those to be just as drying as a sulfate shampoo. I would conditioner wash, deep condition & leave in on wash days. In the warmer months, be cautious when using humectants such as glycerin because humectants can dry out your hair in the warmer months. Also avoid salt in your products because it too can dry out your hair over time. Hope this helps.

Thank you! I just checked the ingredients and it definitely has silicones in it. Any suggestions for super light weight mousse that will hold the curls but also not make my hair sticky or crunchy? I haven't had much luck with other kinds of mousse but I want to make sure I'm not using something that will cause damage.

Also, I'm trying to grow my hair out very long otherwise I definitely agree the cut would help!

I don't use mouses because my styling priority is curl hydration. So I use la looks wet look gel. It's clear & gives me gorgeous curls. I also use la looks sport gel. Both are cheap & give great hold with little crunch.

Hi there Heather! I'm am just wondering how you managed to transition from the damaged curls seen in the picture attached to this post to the beautiful curls in your current profile picture? What sort of products did you use, what was your routine, how long did it take etc?
Sorry for all the questions haha, but I'm currently in the middle of a heat damage meltdown! I think my hair would have been classed as a 3A/3B for my entire life, up until about 3 months ago. I generally wore my hair straight for half the week and then curly for the rest, and never noticed any adverse negative effects on my hair at all from straightening over the years. After a shower my hair would always just bounce back(to my dismay a lot of the time!). But since starting a new job where I had to get up really early/didn't have a lot of time to get ready, I straightened it every day since July without any rest/curly days.
Now just a few weeks ago I noticed that after showers when letting my hair dry, it didn't bounce back. Now the top half of my hair is curly(deformed curls as you said), and the ends are completely straight. It's really worrying me and bringing me down as I think I might have to cut a lot off, and I really don't think I could pull off really short hair. I'm also worried that it's just going to fall out one day because I've damaged it so much. I'd love to be able to get my curls back and am just wondering how your transition went?
I know this post was from a long time ago so its OK if you don't see this rely.